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Why Wizards’ tank is symptom of flawed NBA system
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The Washington Wizards are one of several NBA teams that are incentivized to lose right now. They have the league's third-worst record at 14-38 entering Wednesday's road matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers , and they need to finish in the bottom four to guarantee the retention of their top-eight protected draft pick.
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This season was always about keeping that pick while developing their young core, but there are more eyes on them now because of the Trae Young and Anthony Davis trades . That extra attention has caused more people than usual on social media to voice their displeasure with Washington consistently sitting key players.
The Wizards sat second-year forward Kyshawn George (knee), second-year center Alex Sarr (ankle), third-year guard Bilal Coulibaly (back), and rookie guard Tre Johnson (ankle) in Saturday's 127-113 road loss to the Brooklyn Nets . This came after an upset 126-117 road victory over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday, who are in first place in the Eastern Conference. George, Sarr, and Coulibaly all played in that contest.
George, Sarr, and Coulibaly all played in Sunday's 132-101 home loss to the Miami Heat too, while Goerge, Coulibaly, and Johnson are available for Wednesday's game, per the team's social media. Sarr (hamstring) is out.
Additionally, Young (knee, quad) and Davis (hand, groin) have yet to suit up for the team. Young will be reevaluated after the All-Star break, and Davis is unlikely to play for the rest of the season, per NBA On Prime's Chris Haynes. However, Washington general manager Will Dawkins said before Sunday's game that it's "highly likely" that both stars will play this season, per Locked On Wizards' Ben Strober.
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Wizards part of NBA's 'race to bottom'
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Regardless of whether Dawkins' declaration comes true, voices in the NBA community don't appreciate the Wizards sitting so many players. Knicks FanTv's CPTheFanchise called for action on Friday, via "The Putback" podcast.
"The idea that the Wizards are now going to have Trae Young there, you can already envision them sitting Anthony Davis for quite some time," he said. "With the idea that the Wizards do owe the [New York] Knicks that conditional pick, and that they're essentially gonna continue to tank with these two guys in their roster, I think the league has to look into this."
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"This intentional tanking when you have picks and swaps involved in these negotiations that are essentially meaningless," he continued. "This is the second time that this is going to happen with the Knicks, the first time being when the Dallas Mavericks sat Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving in the final game of their season to tank the pick that they owe the Knicks. They eventually got the No. 10 pick and drafted Derek Lively. I think the league has to and will ultimately look into this because it really renders these conditional picks as meaningless when you have teams out there intentionally sabotaging their season."
Due to a series of previous trades including the John Wall-Russell Westbrook deal in 2020, Washington's 2026 first-round pick will go to New York if it falls outside the top eight. If not, the Knicks will get two second-rounders.
But the reality is that the Wizards were never giving up that pick. The top-eight protection is irrelevant, as they needed the selection whether it was protected or not. This draft class has superstars like Kansas' Darryn Peterson, BYU's AJ Dybantsa, and Duke's Cameron Boozer, all players who could become their franchise cornerstones. Washington has built a deep young core, but none of those players have the ceiling of that collegiate trio.
Getting Young and Davis this season was a head start on next year, when it plans to be competitive. Other tanking squads employed the same strategy at the NBA Trade Deadline, like the Utah Jazz acquiring star big man Jaren Jackson Jr. from the Memphis Grizzlies and the Indiana Pacers getting veteran Ivica Zubac from the Los Angeles Clippers . The difference is that Jackson is healthy, so the Jazz have sat both him and Lauri Markkanen in the fourth quarter in each of their last two games, a 120-117 loss to the Orlando Magic on Saturday and a 115-11 win over the Miami Heat on Monday. They entered the fourth quarter with a 94-87 lead on Saturday.
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Meanwhile, Zubac will miss extended time with an ankle issue, per The Indianapolis Star. The 28-year-old last played on Feb. 2 and has logged 43 appearances this year, and Jackson has played 47 games. On the other hand, Young hasn't played since Dec. 27 and has 10 games played, while Davis hasn't played since Jan. 8 and has 20 appearances.
Young and Davis's longer absences give the Wizards plausible deniability, as they can point to player health as the reason for their approach. Conversely, Utah sitting Jackson and Markkanen in the fourth quarter is more blatant.
While the NBA flattened the lottery odds, the worst team can still guarantee a top-five pick, the second-worst a top-six selection, and so on. The Pacers have even more incentive to tank, as they dealt a top-four protected pick to the Clippers in the Zubac trade.
Removing pick protections and completely randomizing the lottery for non-playoff teams are sensible ways to solve the issue moving forward. But until the league changes the rules, it's hard to blame struggling organizations for securing the best lottery odds they can, especially for a stacked class like 2026.
